The Ace of Hearts
by PsychoticAnimeFreak
Summary: A mysterious magician shows up at Trowa's circus one day, a magician with a secret. The youth claims to be an ally. Is this riddling youngster lying? No big explosions til the 2nd or 3rd chapter. Sorry. You see guns though! (Discontinued)
1. Default Chapter

Two years. Only two years since the day he flew into battle, since the last time he tasted a real fight. The Marimaia incodent, the war, it had such an impact still two years later. He wasn't a soldier anymore and had to learn to accept that. Trowa let out a sigh as he walked into the circus tent.  
  
"Ok Charelene. Just keep focusing. Balance.. balance. Ok you got it!"   
  
Trowa looked up at his siter who was helping a pretty blond with her tight robe act. He smirked, apreciating the person his sister was. After watching Catherine for a bit, the girl looked down at him, smiled and waved. His ears moved back a little, the only sign that she'd surprised him and waved a quick hand back. He proceeded to a table that held the items for his juggling act. He reached for the blue and orange balls but and arms came down, the hand on the table in front of him, preventing him from proceeding.  
  
He looked up at his sly challenger a saw a pretty girl in a tuxedo. The suit was complete with gloves, tails, a cape and a red sash around her waist.   
  
Trowa could make out messy black bangs, poking out of under her har and green goggle shoved up under them. She wore the trademark Duo smirk smile on her tan face, making her Hawaiian heritage obvious. The rest of her hair was jaw length, too jet black and not dyed some strange color as Trowa somehow expected it to be.  
  
He picked up a ball, blue, and held it out to Trowa as though she were a two year old showing him her new toy. He cocked an eyebrow confused by this motion. She grinned.  
  
The girl rolled her wrist and the ball now balanced on the back of her fingers. She raised her hand vertically, stopping at a steep incline. The ball began to roll down and she quickly shifted her hand bakc and loosened the fingers. The ball rolled up over the fingers and rested on her plam now. Trowa gave her a quizical look.  
  
Again she smiled and reversed the process. Then forward. Then back. This process continued, the bal rolling over her fingers as though it were bewitched. With her right hand, she slid her fingers under and orange ball and began to do the same with that hand.   
  
She stopped, holdign both balls and threw the blue one backwards and behind her back, kicked it back up with her heal and caught an orange ball. Trowa blinked. She went back to the rolling and after two rolls, the right hand ball suddenly appeared blue.   
  
Trowa was suddenly fascinated in private, his face remaining military nuetral. The girl then juggled the two balls. Trowa watched her skill and teh girl caught the ball and bent over as though her stomach hurt, curling in the balls as well.  
  
She then looked at him, still bend over and smiled. When she stood up right and her arms fly open, out flew a blue and gold macaw. The girl held out a suddenly gloved hand with the bird flew over and sat on. Trowa heard clapping behind him.  
  
He turned to see an appluading Catherine walk over. She patted her brother on the back.  
  
"Hey Trowa. Meet our new magician-" Catherine was cut off and the girl finished for her.  
  
"Ace." she smiled, holding out her hand and revealing the Ace of Hearts.   
  
She threw up the card and it disappeared in a ball of fire and was gone. She smirked.  
  
"Ace, this is Trowa, my brother I told you about." Catherine introduce.  
  
"Hello!" Ace waved and Trowa cocked and eyebrow. Ace proceeded to pet her bird for a sceond before speaking again. "I should get Haunter to his cage." she said, referring to the bird. "I guess I'll talk to yeah guys later."   
  
Trowa watched the girl walk away and turned to his sister with a look that clearly said "you're kidding me."  
  
"She's not that bad Trowa. She has talent and can bring something to the show." Catherine tired. "Will you please at least be decent to her?"  
  
Trowa sighed.  
  
"Okay, but only becuase you say so." He then picked up his three remaining ball off the table with a pogo stick and walked to the ring of the circus to practice.  
  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
  
Ace locked Haunter's cage and smiled a little.  
  
"Okay, don't try to escape. And rememebr not to make fun of the tigers. They can still eat you." the girl gave her bird a wink.  
  
Haunter sqwuaked as though she understood her master. Ace smiled and walked off. She took off her hat and slumped forward and sighed, exhausted. She was walking back to her trailer when..  
  
Click.  
  
She recognized the cok of a gun, the barrel firm against the side of her head. She sighed and smirked.   
  
"I was wondering when you'd try to shoot me." she smiled and turned her head to see Trowa, the barrel rolling over onto her temple.   
  
"What are you doing here." he asked in more of a command.   
  
She turned more, the gun on the center of her forhead now.  
  
"Are you really going to shoot me on suspicion?" she asked, smirking and raising a brow, cocky.  
  
He frowned a little and pulle back the gun, holding it up to the side, letting her know he could still use it.   
  
"What are you doing here." he repeated, he voice still monotone and calm.   
  
She smirked again, still cocky.  
  
"I told you." the fifteen year old began. "I'm a magician."  
  
"Wrong answer." Trowa swiftlymoved to gun up against her forhead again.   
  
He answer wasn't what he expected. Ace started laughing and back up a little. She held up her hand so he could see the plam, twisting her fingers and turning the palm towards her, she presented him with a daisy and put it in the gun. He blinked. She returned his shock by holding up two fingers in a peace sign.  
  
Trowa quickly recovered and raised the gun back to her, ready to shoot through the peace flower.   
  
"What are you doing here." the question was growing old. Ace chuckled a bit under her breath.  
  
"If you weren't so blind and out of practice you'd see I'm on your side, hired by your people. There is no allusion to this trick and its a riddle easily solved." she winked as he lowered the gun and walked away   
  
Trowa looked at his gun confused and walked back into the main tent. Around the corner, Ace watched him go. She sighed and turned , only to see another large gun in her face.  
  
"Are all of you trying to blow my head off?!" she demanded, sticking out her tongue. 


	2. History of the Cards

Disclaimer: I don't own the show! If I did own the show, there would be a floating banana in every episode!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Doctor S didn't flinch, only holding the gun steady to her head.  
  
"Why was Trowa questioning you." he asked in a demand tone, similar to Trowa's, only more direct.  
  
"He thinks I'm a bad magician." she said bluntly and cocky.  
  
"Ace."   
  
"Sorry, sorry." she apologized. "Got the stuff I need?"  
  
The man only opened his coat with his free hand a pulled out a disk and handed it to Ace, her sliding it into her pocket.  
  
"G over the info on that disk." he ordered, still not moving the gun. He pulled out a rolled up paper, blue prints to something and too handed them to the crazed magician. "This will be delievered at cargo bay 4792 at 0 one hundred hours."  
  
"Can't you just say midnight like normal people?" she asked, smirking at she took the roll and slid it into her tuxedo jacket, the paper seeming to disappear.  
  
He smirked and fired the gun, but it never hit the girl. She was gone another allusion. But where the bullet hit, and unside down card was pinned to the wall, a hole in the center from the shot. He walked over and grabbed it, turning it to see. The Ace of Hearts.  
  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
  
Ace walked into her trailer at last and threw off her tuxedo jacket and unbuttoned the shirt. Her trailer was a mess, mainly a small kitchen, couch, small desk and matress in the corner. Candy wrappers and Orange soda bottles litered the place, posters of the gundams were on her walls. On her desk was a small lap top which she sat at.   
  
From her seat, she put a frozen burrito in the microwave and reached into her pocket, pulling out the disk from before and popped it into the computer. As the computer de fragmented the disk and began to read it, the macrowave went off. Ace pulled it out of the burrido with one hand and shoved it into her mouth.  
  
The file came up and she studied the details. Models of the new editions of mobile dolls and suits flashed on the screen. Better armor, weaponary and cloaking devises. Ace spun out her hand and the roll of blueprints appeared. and She opened it.  
  
A gundam.  
  
It wasn't just any gundam but, the most up-to-date model. The doctor, especially S, had conjoined the powered of the Heavyarms Custom and the final Wing Zero model. With the conjoined power of the two gundams' armor and the new up-to-date strength, her gundam would be better than those of Merimai.   
  
Not that the former gundams weren't being worked on and updated as well, only a few of the the previous gundam pilots wouldn't be joining in the fight like her.  
  
Quatre, for example, had settled down after a few years and had four children, twin daughters and two sons. He was a family man now so war was a wel wanted forgotten memory.   
  
WuFei planned to spend five years originally, training in a monestary, mostly in confinment. He gave up and announced his engagment to Sally Po soon after and the two were currently on their honeymoon. He wouldn't be fighting either.   
  
Doctor S was supposed to tell Trowa the news. Maybe that's why he was angry with Ace. Actually that was him in a good yet concerned mood. They both knew if Trowa were ordered to run through town dressed an orange in some strange way to defeat a threat, he would.   
  
Trowa had only been helping around the circus, for it was the only life he knew. He was wife and childless. All he had was a sister who he barely knew, even though the two had grown close in the last two years.   
  
A new model of Heavyarms was ready for him, ready for a new name if chosen, same colors at the last. It's armor was stronger though lighter. All systems updated.  
  
Duo had moved back to L2 and rebuilt the Maxwell Church through charity work. He's gotten sick of the junkyard and sold it, using much of the money for the church. He helped around the Church once in a while and made a small memory shrine to the nun who raised him.  
  
He actually went to the doctors asking why another war hadn't come to free him from his boredom. The doctors then revealed to him this new threat from an unknown source. He helped customize and update the Death Scythe Hell Custom to what he'd named after himself, The God of Death.  
  
Heero disappeared for the first year without war. He arrived on Doctor J's doorstep, telling the man he couldn't get war out of his mind. The cybornetic man took him in and helped him train. When the new threat came on the seen Heero stayed and helped with the new designs for the gundams. Heero had held a secret though.  
  
The year of Heero's disappearance was the year Ace met him. He'd found her starving and crying in an alley on Earth, the rain pouring down on her. When he'd tried to get close, she attacked.   
  
After a massive back alley battle, Heero came out the victor. He'd gone easy on her, not wanted to kill anyone else. He managed to knock her out, not seriously hurting her other than a few bruises.   
  
Heero didn't look to her and her potential as a possible friend, nor did he have any attraction to her. Simply, he saw her as a daughter.   
  
His sins and the blood on his hands had gone so deep he knew he had felt as though he needed to give life to someone, Ace was just the first person he ran into.  
  
She had no memory of her past and all she knew was she'd been living on the streets for two weeks. She was fifteen now, rescued at fourteen.   
  
Heero bought a small apartment for them, making her work for her stay, a way of conditioning. He made her wake up a four thirty every morning and run up and down the fire escape on the side of the building until he told her to stop. He would force her to do this with weights on, putting heavier ones on everytime she got used to the weight. He soon made her carry him on her back.  
  
He'd give her a banana or a shake for breakfast before training her in stealth and fighting abilities. He soon learned of her passion for magic. She'd shown him a few impossible tricks and when asking her about it, she said all she could remember from her passed was the magic. Everytime she dealt him a card it was the ace of hearts. So he named her Ace.  
  
After martial arts training, she would go with him to a gun rang and learn aim, accuracy and timing. While they'd eat take-out or pizza for dinner, they'd review battles from Alexander the Great and Caeser and even past gundam fights. She was to learn weaknesses and was often quized.   
  
He also taught her how to work with numbers, using cards as an example and she used this skills for hacking. The only difference between the two, was Ace actually had somewhat of a personality.   
  
A common game was played. They'd chose a highly guarded museum and Ace would sneek in and steal the most prized exhibit. After a few days of panic of the where abouts of the possesion, an employee would open up the next day to find the ehibit unharmed and in it's place, as though nothing had occured.   
  
Soon Heero went to Doctor J and told Ace to sneek in an secretly stay with them. At night time when Heero would get back to their room where she slept on the floor, they'd go over the plans and designs of the new gundams.   
  
When the plans were finalized, Heero introduced the doctors to Ace and explained her genius. Without her knowing, Heero mentioned WuFei's engagement and Quatre's growing family, his wife just discovering her pregnancing with their fourth child.   
  
The doctors asked him for a suggestion and he suggested Ace, even blowing her out of the water. They trained her in gundam battle, though not much was needed. Heero and Ace decided to go back to the holographical systems apposed to the cockpit fighting.  
  
A cockpit was still existed, but only for a case in emergency. Then Heero's favorite toy still existed, the self destruct button.   
  
Ace smiled with pride at her gundam, though she hadn't named it the Ace of Hearts after herself. She named it the Joker.   
  
The Joker held a long, heat up, Chinese chain whip, a beam blade on the end. Machine guns were in the chest like on the Heavyarms but that was about it.   
  
The suit itself wore black armor much like that of the Deathscyth Hell's Custom, minus the witch shoes as Ace dubbed them. On the white legs and arms, she'd painted poker cards, and her gundam also had wings. The wings were large rectangular plates she'd too painted like poker cards.  
  
She rolled back up the blueprints and looked back at her computer and took out the disk, returning it too her pocket. It was eleven forty-five.  
  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
  
"So you want me to pilot it?" Trowa asked, left hand extended, gun against Doctor S's forhead.  
  
"If you believe you can still fight." The doctor's hand too extended, gun firmly against Trowa's forehead. Neither blinked at the weapons.  
  
"Will it too be called Heavyarms or may I chose a new name?" Trowa asked, still monotone.  
  
"Name it what you will." the doctor told him.  
  
Trowa blinked, a slight hesistation. "I'll give you the name at a later date."  
  
The doctor nodded. The two removed the guns and put them away. They saluted and the doctor walked away. Trowa stood there for a moment and decided not to go into the trailer yet. He managed to see Ace sneek out of her trailer, wearing her full tux still, just no gloves or coat.   
  
He had learned of her strange history and understood how she could feel about her amnesia. He made sure she was a descent distance away before following her.   
  
He followed her to the docking bays and to the cargo bays. Soon, they arrived at cargo bay 4792, or at least the door where Ace stopped. She turned her head to the side and looked at Trowa.  
  
"You might as well come out." she smirked.  
  
Trowa walked forward and stopped next to her. He looked at her with is soldier stare and she bobbed her head abit, smirking still   
  
"Wanna see the Joker?" she asked.  
  
Trowa rocked a little, cocking only a brow, the only sign of emotion and Ace nodded, smirking again. She opened the door.   
  
They were hit with a burst of wind as they watched the gundam land. It finished, Ace smiling and Trowa just staring as his strange bangs whipped around his face and the suit landed.   
  
Ace looked at him and smirked.  
  
"You like?" she asked.  
  
He looked at her again, expressionless though she knew what was on his mind. He might've well said "Impressive kid."  
  
She smiled, letting him know she got the mental message and walked into the hanger and stopped about ten yards away.  
  
"You coming or what?"  
  
Trowa follwed and looked up at her suit.  
  
"Don't feel left out." Ace smirked and he looked back at her for a second. She pointed to the right and Trowa's ears went back a little. His new gundam.  
  
"Welcome to the circus." was all he said, still monotone and expressionless.  
  
Ace smiled happy with her new alliance. 


	3. The Fool

Chapter 3: The Fool  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the show!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Ace and Trowa sat in the trailer the man shared with his sister. After receiving their new gundams, Trowa brought Ace back to his trailer. There, Ace had explained to him who she was and the new threat, basically going over the information Doctor S had given him.   
  
Ace, however, explained in more detail the capabilities of the latest gundam models and the power of the new threat.  
  
Originally, the threat had been though to be a rumor or a hoax. The doctors had heard ideas of communities joining together to reform a new version of White Fang or Oz.   
  
After a while, what had been known as terrorist bombings now became further suspicious. There were no signs of plastic explosives, nor had the bombs been planted inside the building. The most several damages were to the roofs and around the buildings and conveniently, there were no surviving eyewitnesses.  
  
The general public was informed that the bombings were terrorists until the doctors and specialists discovered the true cause of these attacks to keep the conspiracy under wraps. It soon became near definite that the attacks were as they suspects; from some form of suit.  
  
It wasn't definite if it were by a mobile suit, doll or what. All the doctors were sure of was it was an aerial attack of some sort by a suit.   
  
Studying the sites further and going into detailed background checks, they pulled up files of old activist soldiers. Most left soon after the war but after three months, almost all of the former soldiers had gone missing.   
  
Their wives, children, husbands and families left dumb founded and confused by the disappearances. Some names did pop up, purchasing weapons and tools. The evidence piled more and more and soon it was definite the gundams would have to fight again.  
Ace explained this to Trowa until 3 in the morning when she fell asleep mid sentence on the couch in front of him and his sister. Trowa carried her out of the trailer and brought her to her own and tried to open the door. He shifted the unconscious girl over his should like a sack of potatoes and tried kicking the trailer door down.  
  
After trying to break into her home for half an hour, he gave up and dropped her quiet literally onto the couch of the Barton trailer. Of course, his sister had to laugh when he dropped, the girl hitting the couch, bouncing off and hitting the floor. Once on the floor, she put her thumb in her mouth and hugged his legs like a teddy bear. It took Trowa another half and hour to get free.  
  
Ace woke up two hours later, having being used to getting up at 4:30, now thought being lazy was when she woke up at 6:00. Catherine woke up half and hour later and the girls' laugher was what woke a very sleepy and grumpy Trowa.   
  
The three had talked for a while and at 8:00, Catherine left to go make sure everyone else was awake for the last practice before that nights show. Now Trowa was left eating breakfast burritos with the strange Hawaiian girl.  
  
After finishing his two burritos, he watched in near horror as the girl down five burritos, seven strips of bacon and down half a quart of milk. The sad thing was she was still hungry.  
  
"So you see," Ace was explaining to Trowa. "Cards have changed over time. Originally, for example, the Spades were Swords and the Joker was the Fool. Surprising, the Fool card is still used in modern Tarot."  
  
"You're gundam is called Joker." Trowa pointed out. "Fool?"  
  
"Nah!" Ace laughed as though she were a little kid who'd just proven her guardian wrong. "I was thinking Batman!"  
  
Trowa blink twice, the only sign of his confusion and again Ace laugh.  
  
"You've never heard of Batman!?"   
  
Before Trowa could answer, the microwave sounded and Ace ran over to retrieve her sixth burrito. She was shoving half of the beanie and cheesy delight into her mouth when the door opened and Catherine stoke her head in.  
  
"Excuse me, Trowa?" she began, her brother looking up and Ace waving, her mouth formed around half of her meal, the dripping burrito hanging out of her mouth. "There's some guy here with really long brown hair. Says he knows you."  
  
Trowa nodded, insuring he'd be out in a moment. Ace cocked her head to the boy in clear confusion, the burrito still hanging out of her mouth. He rolled his head back to look at her.  
  
"The fool." Was all he said for Ace to catch on.  
  
She slurped up the rest of the burrito and grinned. She'd finally meet a pilot who would talk far more than once in a while.  
  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
  
Duo was leaning against the snack bar on his left elbow, head down to the ground with his bangs hiding his eyes, his left leg curled behind his right with this right hand on his fist. All that could be seen of his face was his cocky smirk.  
  
He still wore his infamous priest like clothing. When he went to the doctors for a new suit, he'd barely missed meeting Ace. She had been in hiding at the time and Heero had forbade her from leaving the room and from being seen.  
  
She had come out only two days after he'd left to do his own research. He had picked up some new information on the new threat, using his new cloaking device on the gundam.   
  
Duo was mainly here to report his information to Trowa originally. He was also coming to meet the new pilot.  
  
Can't win a war unless you know your allies are. Duo thought to himself. He then paused a second. Damn with everyone flopping around in the last one we got lucky.  
  
He looked up through his bangs as the sound of approaching footsteps to see Catherine with Trowa and a strange Hawaiian girl in a tuxedo. Well, not a full tuxedo.  
  
She dressed as she had the night before, leaving her coat off, though she still wore the cloves, the sleeves of her shirt rolled up and her top hat. Amazingly, her tie was still done as though she'd just fixed it.  
  
Duo then had to laugh as he noticed the girl was walking casually with the others, hands in her pockets, burrito dripping out sauce as half of it hung out of her mouth. It just added to the affect that her head was lowered, her eyes and nose hidden under the top hat.   
  
In a way, she looked like a cowboy in old western movie, walking casually, mysterious by the lowered head, eyes can't be seen though you know they are piercing straight through you.   
  
On the other hand, she looked like a complete nutcase loon, snacking on a cheese and bean burrito, looking at you as though you were the odd on, eating with silver wear as apposed to your fingers. For shame.  
  
He straightened as they approached, keeping his right hand on his side. He smirked in his infamous Duo style. Catherine nodded to him and he returned the gesture as he walked past him, having completed her delivery job of the pilots.  
  
Trowa stopped in front of him, behind the strange bangs boy Ace stopped off to the side a bit. She kept her head lowered and chewed the burrito silently.  
  
"Hey!" Duo greeted, slapping Trowa on the shoulder. "Long time no see."  
  
Trowa just gave him a nod. "Duo."  
  
Duo looked around the man at Ace who was still chewing on the burrito, hands still in her pockets.  
  
"And you are?" he asked, hoping for a formal introduction from the girl.  
  
"Hearts." She said, around the burrito in her best Sean Connery accent, raising her head and tipping her hat. "Ace of Hearts."  
  
"Duo Maxwell! The God of Death!" he said, holding out his had around the unnoticing Trowa.  
  
Ace dropped her tipping hand to her side and snapped up her head, flinging the burrito into the air, opened her mouth and caught the rest of it. She chewed and swallowed it and once and held her hand out to Duo.  
  
"Nice ta meet yah!" she grinned before letting out a great belch.  
  
The two shook hands and Trowa glanced back at the alliance. Duo then turned back to him.  
  
"I've come to discus my findings with you. The threat is bigger than we thought." Duo explained.  
  
Trowa nodded and Ace spoke up.  
  
"Well, why don't we discuss it over lunch or something?" she suggested.  
  
At this, Trowa looked back at her in almost complete shock and horror.  
  
"You just had six burritos, seven strips of bacon and drank all of my milk" he told her.  
  
"You're point?"  
  
Trowa sighed, knowing it was no argument. If Ace weren't still hungry, Duo would be and with two sugar bombs bouncing around they were bound to form a food alliance against the man until he gave in.   
  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
  
The three ended up going to a McDonald's down the street from the circus. Trowa refrained from ordering anything while Ace ordered two number twos and Duo ordered a number seven.  
  
Halfway through her third cheeseburger, Ace spoke up and said, "So you said you have some new information on this new threat?"  
  
Duo nodded chewing and took a sip of his drink and swallowed.  
  
"Yeah, did some spying." He said, examining his Crispy Chicken Delux before taking another bite out of the sandwich.  
  
He shoved some fries into his mouth and took another drink. After a moment, the boy spoke again.  
  
"Turns out," he paused to swallow, "They've got bases scattered all over earth and on L1 and L4."  
  
Ace's ears went back a little. "Dang."  
  
"And 'dang' is only an understatement, a big one. They've got almost every kind of suit, though they don't use dolls. New recruits secretly sign up at locations everyday. It's some scary shit!" Duo nearly shouted.  
  
"Damn."  
  
"Duo." Trowa finally spoke, scaring the other two who'd forgotten he was there. "Where are these recruiting locations?"  
  
"Why?" Duo asked, curious.  
  
"They know you and I. But they don't know Ace." He said.   
  
Duo still looked confused and Ace explained it to him.  
  
"Duo, send me in as a 'potential recruit' to gather some info." She explained and he nodded.  
  
"Won't the tux give you away?" he laughed a bit.  
  
"I'll change!" she stuck her tongue out at him and he lowered the skin under he eye and stuck his tongue out.  
  
"Do you know when the next meeting is?" Trowa asked as though he hadn't heard the last few statements.  
  
"Tomorrow night at six at the ware house near the docking bays."  
  
"Ok, so Duo can stay with you Trowa and Duo, tonight you're coming with us." Ace laid out the plan.  
  
"What am I doing?" Duo asked.  
  
"You're watching the Circus." Ace grinned. 


End file.
